Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Published Date: 30 December 2009 HER voice has conquered Britain, smashed online sales records and created the fastest-selling debut album by a woman ever.Yesterday Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle took another step towards world domination as she arrived in Japan ahead of her debut on the country's most prestigious New Year's Eve television event.

Ms Boyle posed for pictures but coyly refused to perform, saying her fans would have to wait until Thursday night.

The show, Kohaku Uta Gassen or the "Red and White Song Battle", is the country's prime vocal variety programme.

Monday, December 28, 2009

It is Christmas eve, and I'm enjoying the deep peace of an evening with my family, and I am thinking about this beautiful season and the hope that it brings, and also about people celebrating the season around the world under very different circumstances.

These are the Christian communities in peril in places like southern Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and too many other places in the world. Almost universally, these communities are threatened by Islam, and as that religion drifts more and more into extremism, the danger to the Christians living among them grows.

One of the saddest consequences of the Iraq war was its effect on Iraqi Christians. This community has been decimated, forced to emigrate, and generally oppressed in recent years by both Shiites and Sunnis, who are united in their prejudice against Christians.

The Turkish Christian Community, which is among the oldest in the world, has been reduced to just a few thousand by the orchestrated oppression of the Turkish government--and this is a country that aspires to entry into the European Union. It should never be admitted until it faces its own truth both in regards to Christians and Armenians, not to mention Greeks, and becomes a modern nation, which is to say one that is genuinely secular, recognizes human rights, and expects its citizens to respect all.

The Christians of southern Sudan are hunted like animals by Muslim militias. They are considered barely human, if at all, and yet they are, arguably, the only civilized and compassionate community in the region.

We live in a world whose outrage is methodically blunted by the political correctness of governments and media who endlessly try to placate Muslim extremists.

Let's resolve, in 2010, to forget this nonsense approach to the problem. We need to admit something: Christian ethics, Christian compassion and Christianity's regard for the value of the individual human being are among the very greatest of all moral achievements.

Whether one is a fundamentalist, a moderate or a secular Christian, we absolutely must stand up for Christian values--specifically, those values that Christ taught, and that are embodied in the gospels.

We need to renew our support for the gospel and the sterling excellence of its message.

No matter how much the modern secular community may wish to deny it, in fact, western civilization is Christian civilization. The reason is that it rests in recognition of the value of the individual.

In pre-classical times, during the long ages of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian empires, there was no such thing as an individual. The concept simply did not exist. Even the rulers were so constrained by ritual that they were not in any real way free.

Then, with the advent of Greek thought and Greek culture, the idea of the citizen was born, and unspoken within it, the idea of the individual.

The Roman Empire was the first to build a body of law around the rights of individuals, but, like the Greeks, the concept of the individual and the citizen were essentially the same.

Jesus Christ added a single idea of absolutely extraordinary importance to this: that every human being, no matter how humble, had value in the eyes of God, and was a valid individual.

This is the idea that Christianity has brought to the world, and with it all the compassion, decency and cherishing of the needs of one another that come with it.

And this is why we absolutely must recognize and defend the value of all Christian communities in the world, for they are precious outposts of civilization on a planet where the light of human decency is growing dimmer every day.

What is best in modern civilization rests on the shoulders of the Gospels. Even our most secular western communities derive their awareness of the value of the individual from their own Christian roots.

We must not assume that other traditions are somehow equal to the Christian tradition. They are not equal. I know that it is sacrilege among the politically correct to say so, but it is, quite simply, true. Christianity offers to the world one, single idea of overwhelming importance, that is, in fact, the salvation of this overpopulated world: it is that every human being has value, and it is incumbent upon all of us to cherish each of us as much as we cherish ourselves.

Outside of the Christian world, this idea, is, at best, severely diluted.

Insofar, for example, as Asian societies have embraced the value of the individual, they have done so because of the influence of Christian civilization. For example, the Japanese constitution, promulgated after World War II when Japan was occupied by the western powers, recognized the rights and value of the individual. Before this, Japan absolutely did not recognize individual rights. The only individual in Japan was the emperor, and he was, himself, severely constrained by ritual.

In China today, the individual is almost without legal significance, and, except for a tiny affluent minority, has essentially no social value.

It takes the clarity and force of the Christian message to enable people to recognize the value of the individual.

So, in this season of celebration of the birth of the author of this sterling and sacred ethic, it is well worth considering that there are Christians all over the world, on the peripheries of civilization, who are suffering for their faith, and deserve our recognition and support.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Natural News - Gone are the days when play time for kids often meant getting dirty making mud "pies", splashing in mud puddles and creeks, and climbing trees -- and when children washed their hands, mostly just before a meal, it was with plain soap and water. Modern day parents often take pride in keeping their little ones squeaky clean and as germ-free as possible, dousing them with antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers. But new Northwestern University research suggests that normal exposure to everyday germs is a natural way to prevent diseases in adulthood.

The study, published in the December 9th edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, is the first to investigate whether microbial exposures early in life affect inflammatory processes related to diseases in adulthood. Remarkably, the Northwestern study suggests exposure to infectious microbes in childhood may actually protect youngsters from developing serious illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, when they grow into adults.

"Contrary to assumptions related to earlier studies, our research suggests that ultra-clean, ultra-hygienic environments early in life may contribute to higher levels of inflammation as an adult, which in turn increases risks for a wide range of diseases," Thomas McDade, lead author of the study, said in a statement to the media. McDade is associate professor of anthropology in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research.

He added that humans have only recently lived in super clean environments and it could well be time to put down the antibacterial soap. That's because the new research suggests that inflammatory systems need a reasonably high level of exposure to common everyday germs and other microbes to develop and work properly in the body.

"In other words, inflammatory networks may need the same type of microbial exposures early in life that have been part of the human environment for all of our evolutionary history to function optimally in adulthood," stated McDade.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Published Date: 22 December 2009 ROSSLYN Chapel's visitor centre and a city play park are among the projects to benefit from a cash windfall from the Landfill Communities Fund.The environmental body, WREN, has shared out £132,555 among four schemes in Edinburgh and Midlothian. Landfill operators can divert money from their annual landfill tax bill to projects to benefit the community.

This included £50,000 towards a refurbishment at the chapel's visitor and education centre. Another £40,505 was given to Colinton Mains Play Park to buy new play equipment.

A boardwalk and interpretation signs are set to be upgraded in the Pentland Hills, following a grant of £27,755. Howgate Kirk will benefit from a £14,295 internal upgrade and new audio system.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Religious freedom means the right to embrace the customs and meaning of Christ's birthBy Henry E. Brown Posted December 18, 2009

Henry E. Brown is a Republican congressman from South Carolina.

Earlier this month, as I recorded a message to our troops and sent Christmas cards to family and friends, I found myself hesitating before using "Merry Christmas" to wish those important to me a blessed holiday. I was brought up in a Christian home where we celebrated Christmas and its many traditions. Until recently, I had never thought twice before wishing others "Merry Christmas." Communities across the country are abuzz with the "acceptable" way to observe this holiday season, but why should those who celebrate Christmas feel pressure to say "Season's greetings" or "Happy holidays," reluctant to express traditional Christmas words of good cheer?

I am troubled by the sentiment that the phrase "Merry Christmas" is not appropriate and concerned by the limits placed on the expression of the traditions and symbols associated with this national holiday. For me, Christmas is one of our most important holidays, not only because of Christianity's influence on our nation's founding but also because of the Christmas message of "peace on Earth, goodwill to men." To downplay this holiday can only be construed as an attempt to minimize its origin. While the commercialization of the Christmas season floods our cities with beautiful light displays and decorations of Santa and his reindeer, we must not forget that the true meaning and significance of Christmas is the birth of Christ.

I recognize that there are many religions that celebrate a variety of holidays this month. However, in accordance with the First Amendment, I believe it is important to protect civic religious dialogues and preserve the right for everyone to worship as they believe. This does not mean limiting individuals' expression, in public or private, of their religious traditions in favor of creating a neutral holiday season. Instead, as Thomas Jefferson suggested in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, the "wall of separation between church and state" ensures against government encroachment on religious expression. This means that no one should feel compelled to hide his or her celebration of Christmas or feel obligated to hesitate before expressing Christmas greetings. I am concerned that recent attempts to celebrate a "politically correct" holiday season demean this right and may cause the loss of the true meaning of Christmas and some of its sacred traditions.

Unfortunately, the avoidance and hesitation to openly celebrate Christmas seems to be growing. This month's Climate Summit in Copenhagen prohibited the Christmas trees that annually adorn Denmark's Bella Center, despite the fact that Christmas has been celebrated in Denmark since the 17th century. Its Foreign Ministry attributed the ban to the United Nations' attempt to remain neutral, meaning Denmark's traditions will be taking a back seat this Christmas.

An elementary school in Oregon banned symbols like Santa Claus and Christmas trees and even threw out a "holiday giving tree," the purpose of which was to encourage students to give gifts to needy children. The principal of an elementary school in Connecticut instructed students to say "Happy winter" instead of "Merry Christmas." Both schools said that they did not want students whose families did not celebrate Christmas to feel left out or uncomfortable because of the presence of religious symbols in which they did not believe. But the simple wish of cheer at Christmastime, to those who celebrate it or those who do not, is neither insulting nor intrusive. Instead, by pushing Christmas out of the public sphere, actions like those of these schools teach children that their celebrations are somehow offensive and should be limited.

This growing censure of Christmas in favor of a more "politically correct" holiday has also been embraced by some of our nation's leaders. Earlier this month, reports circulated that the White House would celebrate a nonreligious Christmas by excluding any religious symbols from the celebration. I was shocked to read that President Obama considered omitting the traditional manger scene from the elaborate White House decorations in an attempt to keep them religiously neutral. While ultimately the manger scene was included, the hesitation to include the nativity, which depicts a paramount scene in the Christian faith, is worrisome. Additionally, the president's official Christmas card did not reference the holiday or its purpose. To strip Christmas of all religious significance is to lose the reason for recognizing it nationally.

As Americans, we are blessed with many freedoms that generations have fought and died to preserve. Among those is our right to worship in a manner of our personal preference. As a Christian, I observe Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ. I choose to wish others "Merry Christmas" and send cards that extend my best wishes on the occasion. I also choose to include a biblical reference to Christmas as expressions of goodwill are sent in an affirmation of my belief in the importance of Christ and his teachings. However, it seems this right is increasingly being discouraged, which is why I introduced House Resolution 951, which recognizes the importance of Christmas symbols and traditions and expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate the holiday this year. Further, the resolution expresses disapproval of all attempts to ban or limit references to Christmas. I would never intend for my Christmas cheer to be construed as exclusionary, any more than I would take offense at someone's choice to extend another specific holiday message. But I do feel someone must stand up for those who celebrate Christmas and remind them that they do not need to hesitate before wishing others "Merry Christmas." So, this December 25, between the hustle and bustle of gift giving and decorating the tree, I hope that my resolution is one among many of the Christmas wishes you will receive!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~While I do not agree with all of the points made by Henry E. Brown, I do agree the political correctness has gone too far and that our nation needs to keep celebrating Christmas.This should not be up to congress but if you ask me we need to keep Christmas the name of the season. The materialism is already out of control. If it continues down the road of just being a winter revel it can only become more materialistic and the meaning will be lost all together. I think traditions hold a country together. I do not feel however we need to have a resolution in the government to protect Christmas. Let's all just keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts and act out of love and for peace.-Beth Maxwell Boyle

Friday, December 18, 2009

Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a town located 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. He was born to James and Nancy Rogers; he spent many years as an only child. Early in his life he spent much of his free time with his maternal grandfather, Fred McFeely, and had an interest in music. He would often sing along as his mother would play the piano and, at the age of 5, began to play the piano as well.

Rogers was graduated from Latrobe High School (1946), where Orrin Hatch was a contemporary. He studied at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, (1946–1948). He transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he received a BA in music composition in 1951.

At Rollins, Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd, an Oakland, Florida native. They married on June 9, 1952. They had two children, James (born in 1959) and John (born in 1961), and three grandsons, the third (Ian McFeely Rogers) born 12 days after Rogers' death. In 1963, Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Scholastically, he went on to garner 40 more honorary degrees throughout his life. Rogers was also red-green color blind and a vegetarian. He swam every morning, and neither smoked nor drank.

Mr. Rogers was a dedicated Christian. He taught much in the way of Jesus. In 1963, Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). What you were responding to Mr. Shaper and what you admired was a genuine Christian living his faith and walking in the shoes of his Lord. What was happening to you Andrew is you were being taught by a disciple of Jesus. Mr. Rogers did his show the way he did because he was a Christian. Every lesson could be taken directly from the teachings of Jesus. If you want to say Mr. Rogers was Tao then you have to say Jesus is Tao.-Beth Maxwell Boyle~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Tao Of Mister Rogersby Andrew Shapter

When I was just six years old, I came home from school alone while my parents were away working long hours. Every afternoon, like so many children still do, I turned on the TV and got lost for three hours a day. It was my virtual babysitter. I watched re-runs of sitcom classics like Good Times and Three's Company, although hardly shows that a 6 year-old kid could relate to.

But within those few hours of television, I also watched a kind man from Pittsburgh--a guy named Fred McFeely Rogers. This man taught me some core values that are still with me today. Ever heard of him? Maybe you know him better as "Mister Rogers" from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

To some, he was just a kid's show host whose pure innocence was easily parodied by comedians such as Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams. But for millions of young Americans like me, he was literally a daily mentor. Not only that, he was a friend.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ran weekdays on PBS from 1968 - 2001 to an estimated 28 million viewers a day. But Fred Rogers was not only a television mentor, he was also a minister, an accomplished musician, songwriter and a teacher who earned more than 40 honorary degrees.

In an interview conducted by CNN a few years before his death, Rogers stated, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen." And on he went for over 33 years, inspiring young minds from Harlem to Fort Worth.

Look up the definition of the word "mentor" and you'll find a very simple definition:

"A wise and trusted counselor or teacher."

Now more than ever, parents are working long hours just to make ends meet, and children are paying the price. Growing up in a tough economic climate can be a great character builder, but it also makes it harder for kids to get the guidance they need. Children are in desperate need of wise mentors.

According to the National Institute on Media and the Family, television is still a strong focal point when it comes to children's media entertainment. The Institute reports that up to 99% of American families have TV sets, but that only 1 in 8 of children's educational television programs meet high quality standards. At the same time, 60% of kids report that their parents do not know what they are watching on television.

Here are just a few examples of the wisdom of Mister Rogers, and what he could teach to a six year-old:Self-esteem: "If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."

Life's choices: "You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are."

Achievment: "It's not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It's the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our very being is good stuff."

Parenting: "When we treat children's play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping them feel the joy that's to be found in the creative spirit. It's the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives."

Responsibility: "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes"

Mentoring: "Anything that's human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone."

Imperfection: "Some days, doing the best we can do may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect on any front, and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else. "

Peace: "What really matters is whether the alphabet is used for the declaration of war or for the description of a sunrise."

Love and Trust: "Love and trust, in the space between what's said and what's heard in our life, can make all the difference in the world."

Over the 33 years of his broadcast, there have been so many children in need of mentors who had no one but Mister Rogers to turn to. Maybe (chances are) you also grew up watching Mister Rogers. Sadly, since his death, there have been fewer and fewer PBS affiliates airing the show. But there is hope: If your local PBS affiliate is no longer airing Mister Rogers Neighborhood, I encourage you to let them know how you feel about their decision to remove the show from their syndicated weekday lineup.

In telling PBS how important you feel the Neighborhood program is, you might want to relay a personal story of how Mister Rogers touched your life, or the life of a child you know. You can send an email to PBS Headquarters at the following address:

You can also contact PBS via their website PBS Feedback Or you can contact your local PBS member station here PBS | Station Finder.

In the event that your PBS station has continued to make the Neighborhood program available each weekday, you may want to consider sending an expression of gratitude, and making a monetary contribution. It's important to remember that public television is substantially underfunded, and that your local station needs your support. Join the Save Mister Rogers organization on facebook and join their efforts to bring one of America's greatest mentors back to television!

What Andrew in fact is admiring is the Christ like traits of Mr. Rogers so why did he shy away from it? To mention Mr. Rogers as a mentor and a teacher of children without making it clear what motivated Fred Rogers is absurd. The deliberate omission was because its not cool today to like Christians. It is cool to mention Tao. I said it before and again I say it, if Fred Rogers was Tao so is Jesus because you can take each and every lesson in those TV shows and point directly to the New Testament lesson it was drawn from-BMB.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A little travelogue of Scotland, the highlands, Glencoe, and about. Beautiful landscapes and magical places. Music by Archie Fisher, a Scottish treasure himself. From his CD, Sunsets I've Galloped Into:

Monday, December 14, 2009

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Researchers found the benefits of Tamiflu were small and that authorities should consider its side effects before using the drug in healthy people.

The common cold and flu -- both the seasonal and the new swine flu -- are caused by different viruses but can have some similar symptoms, making them tough to tell apart. In general, the flu is worse and symptoms are more intense.

COLDS: Usual symptoms include stuffy or runny nose, sore throat and sneezing. Coughs are hacking and productive. It's unusual to have fever, chills, headaches and body aches, or if present, those symptoms will be mild.

FLU: Fever is usually present, along with chills, headache and moderate-to-severe body aches and tiredness. Symptoms can come on rapidly, within three to six hours. Coughs are dry and unproductive, and sore throats are less common.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Roche, maker of Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — British researchers say there is little evidence Tamiflu stops complications in healthy people who catch the flu, though public health officials contend the swine flu drug reduces flu hospitalizations and deaths.

Researchers at the Cochrane Review, an international non-profit that reviews health information, looked at previously published papers on Tamiflu as used for seasonal flu. They found insufficient data to prove whether the antiviral reduces complications like pneumonia in otherwise healthy people but concluded the drug shortens flu symptoms by about a day. The papers were published online Tuesday in the British journal, BMJ.

The researchers said the benefits of Tamiflu were small and that authorities should consider its side effects before using the drug in healthy people. While the reviewed studies only looked at Tamiflu use for seasonal flu, the experts said their conclusions raised questions about the widespread use of the drug in people with any flu-like illness, including swine flu.

Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor, said the papers cast doubt not only on how safe and effective Tamiflu is, but on the drug regulatory system that approved it. "Governments around the world have spent billions of pounds (dollars) on a drug that the scientific community now finds itself unable to judge," she said in a statement.

But the World Health Organization disagreed. They said data from countries around the world show that when given early, Tamiflu can reduce the severity of swine flu symptoms, though the agency recommends the drug be saved for people at risk of complications, like pregnant women, the elderly, children, and those with underlying medical problems.

"This will not change our (Tamiflu) guidelines," said Charles Penn, a WHO antivirals expert. Penn said that while past studies show Tamiflu only has a modest benefit, when patients with severe illness or at risk of complications are treated early, there are fewer hospitalizations and deaths.

Both the British researchers and WHO said there is little evidence to support the widespread use of Tamiflu in otherwise healthy people — precisely the policy Britain has adopted to fight swine flu.

In addition to recommending Tamiflu be saved for at-risk groups, WHO recommends Tamiflu only be used on a doctor's recommendation.

In Britain, however, Tamiflu is regularly dispensed to healthy people who catch the flu. The drug is given out via a national swine flu hotline by call center workers with no medical training.Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

This is a lovely Christmas song with a slide show of paintings of angels and the Nativity. Bill Ward and the Doerfels perform one of Bill's compositions, The Angels Said It True. This is a cut from the CD ,The Christmas Sessions, which is already on sale on CD Baby. Proceeds from each purchase will help benefit Project Chacocente, an organization which exists to help the extremely poor in Nicaragua. Buy this CD:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bwarddoerfels

Friday, December 4, 2009

A 75-year-old man beamed at me. "At home I have trouble praying for five minutes. Here an hour seems too short." As we left our church at dusk, a new believer knelt to begin an hour of prayer. It wasn't always so. Intercessory prayer had been meager, enthusiasm about prayer virtually non-existent. For years I struggled to lead our church members into a richer prayer life. Then, two years ago we discovered a time-tested method of challenging and stretching people in prayer: the prayer vigil.

Just what is a prayer vigil? The idea is many centuries old. "Vigil" indicates a time of "vigilance", wakefulness, a watch, originally "kept on the night before a religious feast with prayer or other devotions."*

Last year we set aside from noon to midnight on Good Friday for our people to pray for an hour at a time in the church sanctuary. The previous Sunday we circulated a sign-up sheet in the shape of 12-hour clock. If an hour or two was vacant, I'd ask someone to shift to one of those less popular times.

Sign-ups are vital to crystallizing commitment, but some may hesitate. "That was hard for me," John confessed, "because I didn't know what I was going to pray about for a whole hour." People often feel so inadequate at prayer, they don't want set themselves up to fail again. To allay these fears, I circulate some suggestions on "How to Spend an Hour in Prayer" (see sidebar). As people begin to visualize themselves actually praying for an hour, they are more willing to risk it. After one successful experience, they're eager to sign up the next time.

Upon entering the sanctuary for their hour, people find several helps on a table. Next to a log-in sheet are brief instructions for first-timers. A globe and letters from our missionaries stimulate prayer for the world. Some use a copy of the church directory in their intercession. Prayer request slips from the previous Sunday's service are found next to a constantly-growing list on which participants enter other needs.

Since only one or two people are usually present at a time, we encourage people to pray the way they feel most comfortable. A kneeler is placed at the front of the church, though most of our people pray sitting with bowed heads. But some walk while they pray. Occasionally someone prays prostrate on the floor.

If several sign up for the same hour, they often worship and pray as a group for a part of the time, then intercede separately for the remainder of the hour. One of our ladies glows as she remembers: "There were two or three people there. We did some singing as well as praying. It brought a closeness we just don't experience ordinarily. I feel like we're still closer today than we would have been otherwise." Strangely, even praying alone brings a sense unity with others. "Knowing that brothers and sisters are all praying about the same thing," Carole comments, "really stirs up my faith. I feel that we're going to receive answers."

"Can't we just pray at home?" some ask. Not if we want certain unique advantages. The specialness of praying in the sanctuary lifts this hour above the sometimes discouraging experiences of daily prayer. "At home," Louise finds, "there seem to be so many distractions and interruptions. You think about all the things that need doing. But when you come to the quiet sanctuary, you really can feel God's presence." Rick, a father of five, explains: "The hour is so refreshing. I sense the Lord's presence in a way I sometimes don't when I'm off to myself for just a few minutes."

Before our first vigil I didn't think most people would be willing to commit themselves to a whole hour. Not so. Embarking on a significant time of prayer with nothing else to do helps people put their busyness aside and concentrate on prayer. After his first vigil, a thirty-year old man told me, "I just lost track of time. To me there was no time. In fact, I was there almost two hours, without realizing it." Cutting the time short-circuits this broadening prayer experience which can permanently enrich the participant's devotional life.

Yet sensitivity to the congregation's present level of commitment is important. Once after successful 24-hour vigils we tried 36 hours. We had trouble getting enough people; it was just too ambitious for the size of our church. We've found it's better to begin small and grow gradually.

We schedule a vigil two or three times a year. Good Friday lends itself naturally to prayer. We've also tried early September before the program year gets underway, and the beginning of the Advent season.

The nice thing about the prayer vigil is simplicity of organization. We circulate a sign-up sheet, provide some prayer resources, open the sanctuary at the beginning of the vigil, and see that the last person locks up.

The benefits endure. Our people have learned to intercede for one another, to care for each other's needs. Having experienced the joys of a full hour, people are praying longer at home. The vigils have renewed our motivation, as well. Instead of praying out of guilt, we're finding a new longing to spend time before the Lord. We've also have seen marked answers to prayer. Relatives have been saved. Physical healings have resulted. An angry neighbor who had threatened a lawsuit against our church has yet to file. Moreover, he's had dozens praying for his salvation.

We still have a long way to go before we're the kind of praying church we ought to be. But the prayer vigil has wedged open the door to a new dimension of prayer, allowing a fresh breeze of the Spirit to blow across the threshold. Next week I expect someone else will ask with a wistful smile, "Pastor, when are we going to have another one of those prayer vigils?"

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

(CNN) -- Susan Boyle's dreams continue to come true. The singing sensation who emerged from obscurity on "Britain's Got Talent" is topping the charts, selling the most albums of any artist in a single week this year with the largest ever sales debut for a female artist.

Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" album is on top of the Billboard 200 albums chart with 701,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"This is a big deal considering some of the superstar acts that came out this year that couldn't get to that number, said Billboard's director of charts Silvio Pietroluongo. The year's previous high-water sales mark came when Eminem's "Relapse" sold 608,000 in its opening week.

Boyle, a 48-year-old churchgoing celebrity who lives in a modest government-owned home in Scotland with her pet cat, captured the world's attention and hearts eight months ago when she performed on the British talent competition.

Now Boyle is competing against two "American Idols" for sales this holiday season. Idol runner-up Adam Lambert's debut "For Your Entertainment" is at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and "Idol" champ Kris Allen is at No. 11.

When it comes to album sales, Boyle is even fiercer than Rihanna, whose fourth album, "Rated R," is in the No. 4 slot on the charts with 181,000 albums sold during the first week.

Boyle's large album sales reflect larger changes happening in the music industry as younger audiences tend to buy single-song downloads, while more mature audiences, who make up Boyle's fan base, still purchase entire albums.

"Hit-driven artists tend to do well on the download side but aren't moving as many albums as they once did," Pietroluongo said. "If you have an artist who resonates with an older audience, you have an artist who can sell more albums."

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

(NaturalNews) With vegetarianism gaining increasing popularity from the 1970's, reaching its peak in the 1990's, soy has emerged as a 'near perfect' food, with supporters claiming it can provide an ideal source of protein, lower cholesterol, protect against cancer and heart disease, reduce menopausal symptoms, and prevent osteoporosis - among many other things. It seems like a good thing - or is it really?How did such a 'healthy food' emerge from a product that in 1913 was listed in the U.S. Department ofAgriculture (USDA) handbook not as a food but as an industrial product?

According to lipid specialist and nutritionist Mary Enig, PhD, "The reason there's so much soy in America is because the soy industry started to plant soy to extract the oil from it and soy oil became a very large industry." There was a lot of soy oil and with it came a lot of soy protein residue as a left over by-product, and since they couldn't feed it to the animals, except in small amounts, they had to find another big market which, of course, was human consumption.

This excess soy production and its protein residue was the motivation for the multi-million dollars spent on advertising and intense lobbying of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which resulted in about 74 percent of U.S. consumers believing that soy products are healthy. Australia has traditionally prided itself as being a dairy consuming nation, due to the fact that we have such abundant supply of cattle. However, lactose intolerance is becoming a health concern recognised by the medical profession; accordingly, soy is becoming very popular as an alternative to dairy, following in the footsteps of US consumers in believing that all soy-based products have health benefits. In reality, the research that has concluded that all soy products are healthy is far from accurate, and very much skewed by economic motives.

Let's examine why soy products are far from healthy:

For greater clarity, soy products are classified into two main groups: fermented and unfermented. There are also another two sub-groups: organic and Genetically Modified (GM). The GM soy is to be avoided at all costs, as the hazards of GM are some of the worst innovations of modern day bio-technology. Not only are all GM products unhealthy to humans and animals but also to the normal plants that grow in the surrounding area, due to the natural process of winds causing cross-pollination, resulting in mutated species of what were once natural variations of plants. This topic is too vast to cover in this article but for more research, visit (http://www.non-gm-farmers.com) .

The unfermented soy category is a most problematic one. It includes soy products, such as tofu, bean curd, all soy milks, soy infant formulae, soy protein powders and soy meat alternatives, such as soy sausages/veggie burgers, made from hydrolysed soy powder.

So what is wrong with unfermented soy products?

Soy belongs to the family of legumes. Other members of the legume family include beans - such as adzuki, red kidney, navy, barlotti, etc., as well as chickpeas. Peanuts are included as well, as they are technically not a nut but a legume. All legumes and whole-grains - such as, rice, barley, oats, wheat and rye - contain amounts of phytic acid. Being a legume, soy contains a high amount of phytic acid. So, what's wrong with phytic acid? A number of things - yet, in some cases, phytic acid can also be beneficial.

Phytic acid's structure gives it the ability to bind minerals, proteins and starch, and results in lower absorption of these substances. Hence, phytic acid, in large amounts, can block the uptake of essential minerals, like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and especially zinc in the intestinal tract. Soy also inhibits the uptake of one of the most important minerals needed for growth and metabolism, iodine, which is used by the thyroid gland in the production of thyroid hormones.However, for non-vegetarian men, phytic acid may prove to be quite helpful, due to its binding/chelating ability with minerals.

Since a large percentage of non-vegetarian adult males have excess iron, phytic acid would be helpful to them by binding the excess iron. But we need to bear in mind phytic acid will simultaneously bind other minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc. In the case of children and menstruating women, the phytic acid in soy can be a serious negative, as women and children need iron. In women, iron is needed to replace the loss during their menses and in children iron is required for growth and development.

Apart from the phytic acid-related phenomena, there are additional factors that make soy an unhealthy choice.

Soy:

* contributes to thyroid disorder, especially in women

* promotes kidney stones

* weakens the immune system

* contributes to food allergies and digestive intolerance

Perhaps the most disturbing of soy's ill effects on health has to do with its phytoestrogens, which can mimic the effects of the female hormone, oestrogen. These phytoestrogens have been found to have adverse effects on various human tissues, and drinking only two glasses of soy milk daily for one month has enough of the chemical to alter a woman's menstrual cycle.

Soy is particularly problematic for infants and it would be very wise to avoid giving them soy-derived products, since it has been estimated that infants who are exclusively fed soy formula receive the equivalent of five birth control pills worth of oestrogen every day. Check out (www.westonaprice.org) to find some alarming research and statistics on what can go wrong when infants and children are regularly fed soy formula.

In order to derive some benefit from soy, consuming only fermented soy products - such as organic miso (mugi barley and genmai miso are the best), organic tempeh, soy sauce or tamari and natto - is the way to do it. This is because the phytic acid, which is inherent in soy beans, has been neutralized in the process of fermentation. Consuming fermented soy is very beneficial in recolonizing the friendly bacteria in the large intestine, which neutralizes the 'unfriendly' bacteria and allows for greater general assimilation of foods and nutrients.

So, fermented soy is of benefit and unfermented soy is not. It is not only soy that needs to be fermented but whole-grains as well. In fact, grains (apart from millet, buckwheat and couscous) and legumes are best consumed after soaking them for 48-72 hours prior to cooking, which allows fermentation to take place. The soaking of grains and beans is also advocated in the principles of macrobiotics, which is very popular amongst vegetarians. Yet many vegetarian restaurants do not have time or forget to incorporate this very important process in their vegetarian cooking and thus people who regularly eat out at vegetarian restaurants might develop severe mineral deficiencies due to the large consumption of phytic acid in their diet.

Another common fallacy is that soy foods couldn't possibly have a downside because Asian cultures eat large quantities of soy every day and consequently remain free of most western diseases. In reality, the people of China, Japan and other Asian countries eat very little soy. The soy industry's own figures show that soy consumption in China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan ranges from 10 to 90 grams per day. That is grams of soy food, not grams of soy protein alone. Compare this with a cup of tofu (250 grams) or soy milk (240 grams). Many Americans and Australians today would be consuming a cup of tofu and a couple of glasses of soy milk every day. They might also add veggie burgers to this, thinking they are getting their much needed protein intake. Infants on soy formula are probably the most disadvantaged, as that is their main source of nutrition and they ingest large amounts of soy relative to their body weight. Often the side effects are not noticed but, as they are growing up, runny noses, frequent colds, irritability, severe sugar cravings and food intolerance develop.

* Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

* Soy phytoestrogens are potent anti-thyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B12.Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.

* Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

* Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

* Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.Source: (www.westonaprice.org)

In contrast, consuming organic fermented soy products is quite beneficial. Consuming even small amounts of unfermented soy on a regular basis could cause some adverse effects in our body. Next time you consider drinking soy milk; perhaps instead consider oat milk, coconut milk or goat's milk. Some people who are allergic to dairy can tolerate goat milk and goat cheese products in small quantities. Replacing soy and regular milk with these alternatives allow us to enjoy our beverages and cereals without harming our health.

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About Me

I grew up in Chautauqua County, NY. I graduated from Edinboro University of Pennyslvania in 1981 with a BFA in Jewelry and Metalworking. I have been married 31 years. I currently run a small business with my husband. We both enjoy the outdoors and animals a great deal and live on a tiny farm in Western, NY.